The purpose of these guidelines is to establish a set of procedures and standards for determining what constitutes a reportable Honor Code violation. In the past all decisions regarding wheatear an Honor Council proceeding should be reported to another college or graduate institution were left up to the Dean of the College, without input from the jury or Honor Council. It will be the role of the jury and Honor Council to make recommendations to the Dean of the college based on the guidelines outlined in this document. The Dean of the College will retain final say regarding this decision, but will make the decision under the advice of the juries and Honor Council recommendations.
Honor Council Proceedings that Can Be Considered a Disciplinary Action
1) Academic Trial
2) Social Trial
3) Joint-Panel
4) Student-Facilitation Panel
The Role of the Jury/Panel
It will be the responsibility of the jury/ panel to draft and consent to a recommendation to the Dean of the College. The recommendation will determine if the violation is a reportable or non-reportable action. The recommendation must state and give justification for the decision. This decision will occur in the final meeting of the proceeding, usually the finalizing resolutions portion. In cases of an SFP, a recommendation will only take place if the panel determines a violation of the Honor Code to have taken place. If the jury consents to a decision contrary to these guidelines, the jury’s reason must be explicit for why this is the case. The written recommendations will be sent to the Dean of the College with the finalizing resolutions, and will be included in Chair’s report.
The Role of Honor Council
It will be the responsibility of Honor Council to make its own recommendation to the Dean of the College. During review of the abstract, Honor Council will receive the jury’s recommendation and make its own with consideration of the jury’s. If Honor Council makes a decision contrary to the jury’s decision or the guidelines, it must give explicit reasoning. The Dean of the College shall be notified after Honor Council consents to its recommendation. This decision will not be linked to consenting to the abstract, as they are separate decisions.
The Role of Dean of the College
It will be the role of the Dean of the College to make all final determinations. It is the responsibility of the Dean to let Honor Council know if he or she has a problem with the guidelines itself. If this is the case then Honor Council should consider reviewing the guidelines. If he or she disagrees with the determination of the jury or Honor Council he or she will give an explanation for this decision. If there are a number of disagreements Honor Council may consent to have the (Co-) Chair(s) and the Honor Council Librarian discuss the reason for these disagreements. The (Co)-Chair(s) will be responsible for notifying Council of this conversation and discuss will changing the guidelines if necessary. The decision of the dean pertains to general questions regarding academic or social disciplinary actions. Should an application request more specific information it is at the discretion of the Dean to address these questions.
Concerning Academic Violations
If the jury or Honor Council answers yes to one of these questions, then the jury should usually make a recommendation that the violation constitutes a reportable violation.
1) Did the violation result in a grade change?
2) Did the violation result in separation?
Concerning Social Violations
The jury and Honor Council will use the questions below to make a recommendation of a reportable violation. If the jury can answer yes to one of these questions then it should strongly deem the action a reportable violation.
1) Did the confronted party(s) expose one or more people to harm?
2) Does the violation fit into a pattern of behavior for the confronted party(s)?
3) Did the confronted party(s) act with malicious intent?
4) Did the confronted party(s) actions seriously impair another individual’s ability to function normally within the community?
5) Does the confronted party’s actions constitute severe theft?
6) Does the action seriously disrupt the functioning of the community as a whole or clubs/groups within the community (i.e. a customs group)?
Any violations that are deemed Harassment and/or results in separation are always reportable. For Haverford, the definition of harassment is as followed: Words, conduct, or action (usually repeated or persistent) that, being directed at a specific person, annoys, alarms, or causes substantial emotional distress in that person and serves no legitimate purpose (Blacks Legal Dictionary).